The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living PlanetsAlan BossNew York : Basic Books, 2009QB820 .B676 2009

Humankind is at a turning point in the quest for extraterrestrial life - we now have the capacity to detect Earth-like planets around other stars. In The Crowded Universe, renowned astronomer Alan Boss argues that in the coming years we will find abundant Earths, including many that are indisputedly alive. Life is not only possible elsewhere in the universe, Boss argues - it is common.

Boss describes radical new ideas about planetary formation and reveals discoveries of bizarre inhabitants of various solar systems. America must stay in this new space race, he contends, or risk being left out of one of the most profoundly important discoveries of all time: the first confirmed finding of alien life.

A riveting account of modern science's most spectacular story, The Crowded Universe will finally answer the age-old question: are we alone?